Passenger evaded accident in North East Express

The alertness of a passenger averted a major fatal accident that could have been occurred by the two country-made bombs, which were spotted by him at the right time, planted in the Delhi-bound North East Express from Guwahati on Friday morning.

Consequently the train was stopped at the railway station in Katihar for a couple of hours.

“A passenger, who boarded the train at Katihar at around 6.30 am, saw a suspicious-looking object wrapped in a newspaper lying under the seat. After unwrapping it, he found two bombs and alerted the driver of the train,� revealed S B Goswami, Assistant Commandant of the Railway Protection Force.

Soon after receiving the information the Railway Protection Force and Government Police Force immediately rushed to the spot and passengers were moved away to the safer place for security reasons.

The bombs were then put into water filled bucket and defused at the platform. The train was delayed by two hours but it was allowed to resume its journey later.

Despite repeated claims of stringent security measurements in railways, such incidents time and again raised question on the security measures taken by Indian railways.

Considering the importance of the long route connecting West Bengal , North Eastern states and the capital, the railway administration should be more vigilant.

There should be timely security inspection that can evade these problems. Also government should make state police force more professional and increase the ratio of police force to the amount of passengers.

Railway also needs to restrict the entry to only bonafide passengers and thorough scrutiny should be done at the entry gate.

Though it seems difficult taking in account of the number of passengers travel in trains but this is the only possible solution that can help in avoiding any tragic event saving thousands of life.

Since terrorists are now active in all parts of the country, it also becomes the duty of each citizen to be extra cautious while travelling and they should also cooperate with the administration to make their journey troublefree and safer.